Holders Zambia coast into Castle Cup final
ATTERIDGEVILLE, South Africa (AFP) — Title holders Zambia cruised into a fourth consecutive Castle Cup final with a 3-0 victory over Mozambique Saturday.
Noah Chivuta broke the deadlock after 36 minutes at Super Stadium west of Pretoria and second-half goals from Emmanuel Mayuka and William Njobvu sealed success in a southern Africa championship semi-final.
Zambia, seeking to overtake Angola and Zimbabwe by lifting the trophy a fourth time in 11 years, will face South Africa or Botswana in the final on October 20 at a venue to be decided.
The result confirmed the supremacy of Zambia over Mozambique as Chipolopolo (Copper Bullets) have won nine of 11 full international meetings against the Mambas (Snakes) and never lost.
Mozambique matched Zambia until falling behind and dominated the early second half possession on a partly cloudy afternoon, but goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene was never really threatened.
The outcome emphasised the strength in depth of Zambian football as they succeeded without their Europe-based professionals while several players based in South Africa made late withdrawals.
Chivuta blazed over when well placed before racing on to a through ball and poking the ball past Mozambique goalkeeper Marcelino under pressure from defender Mexer.
Sloppy defending led to the second goal after 68 minutes as several Mozambicans failed to clear and Mayuka hammered the loose ball into the corner of the net.
Tired Mozambique were caught napping again with 79 minutes gone as unmarked Njobvu took his time before firing a low shot under Marcelino to complete a surprisingly easy passage to the decider.
